Voice output device, information input device, file selection device, telephone set, and program and recording medium of the same

ABSTRACT

A device, computer program and method for outputting linguistic information. The voice output device, for example, includes an output information acquisition unit acquiring linguistic information and attribute information. Attribute information includes an attribute added to each linguistic element included in the linguistic information. A tactile pattern storage unit stores a predetermined tactile pattern corresponding to each linguistic element. A tactile pattern acquisition unit acquires the tactile pattern from the tactile pattern storage unit. A voice output unit reads aloud the linguistic elements and a tactile pattern output unit outputs, in parallel with reading aloud each linguistic element, the tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to the linguistic element, thereby allowing a user to sense the tactile pattern by the sense of touch.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/136,963 filed Jun. 11, 2008, which claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. Pat. No. 7,403,897 issued Jul. 22,2008, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese PatentApplication No. JP2003-307271 filed Aug. 29, 2003, the entire text ofwhich is specifically incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for providing informationthrough a combination of visual, audio and tactile mechanisms that canbe used by visually impaired people, people driving, and the like.Specifically, the present invention relates to a voice output device, aninformation input device, a file selection device, and a telephone set,each including a function to transmit information to users' sense oftouch, and a program and a recording medium of the same.

BACKGROUND

Methods for presenting information by using voice or the sense of touchhas been proposed, focusing on cases of presenting information to usersmoving or driving, visually-impaired people, and the like. For example,Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10 (1998)-69218 is directedtoward providing an interface which allows visually-impaired people touse window-compatible software with an interface to display windowstructure and functions of software on a tactile display and outputwindow names and the like by voice when a user touches tactile pins.

International Publication WO00/17739 discloses an information processingapparatus for visually impaired people. Information is displayed on atactile input/output device including input/output means arranged in atwo-dimensional matrix. When a user inputs an operation on apredetermined area of the tactile input/output device, voicecorresponding to the operation is outputted.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,441 discloses a tactile interface system providedwith a plurality of displays including at least one tactile display. Theplurality of displays display data selected from different portions ofmultiple data field environment.

Generally, the amount of information that can be transmitted per unittime is considered to decrease in order of the senses of sight, hearing,and touch. For example, rich text information which is informationpresented to the sense of sight is added with information concerningimportant parts, document structure, and the like by providing theinformation with attribute information such as character size, characterdecoration including bold, italic, or the like, and layout includingline feed and indent in addition to text information as languageinformation. Therefore, if information which should be presented throughthe sense which allows a larger amount of information to be transmittedper unit time is presented through another sense, understanding theinformation becomes difficult because of the excessive information, orthere arises such a problem that part of information is lost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the above-mentioned limitations of theconventional art by efficiently transmitting linguistic information andattribute information in parallel to the different senses of the user.In other words, linguistic information and attribute informationincluded in information to be outputted to a user are outputted todifferent senses of the user in parallel.

One exemplary aspect of the present invention is a voice output devicefor outputting linguistic information. The linguistic informationincludes a plurality of linguistic elements such as characters andphrases by voice. The voice output device includes an output informationacquisition unit configured to acquire the linguistic information andattribute information. The attribute information includes an attributeadded to each of the linguistic elements included in the linguisticinformation. A tactile pattern storage unit is configured to store apredetermined tactile pattern corresponding to each of attributes addedto the linguistic elements. A tactile pattern acquisition unit isconfigured to acquire the tactile pattern corresponding to an attributeadded to the linguistic elements from the tactile pattern storage unit.A voice output unit is configured to read aloud the linguistic elementsincluded in the linguistic information. A tactile pattern output unit isconfigured to output, in parallel with reading aloud each of thelinguistic elements, the tactile pattern corresponding to the attributeadded to the linguistic element of interest, thereby allowing a user ofthe voice output device to sense the tactile pattern by sense of touch.

Another exemplary aspect of the invention is an information input devicethat displays an entry screen. The entry screen includes a plurality ofentry fields and allows a user to input information in each of the entryfields. The information input device includes an entry screen displayunit configured to display the entry screen and entry fields. An entryfield information generation unit is configured to generate, when theuser selects one of the entry fields, attribute information. Theattribute information includes an attribute to identify whether input inthe selected entry field is required. A tactile pattern storage unit isconfigured to store a predetermined tactile pattern corresponding to theattribute to identify whether input in the entry field of interest isrequired. A tactile pattern acquisition unit is configured to acquirethe tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to the entryfield selected by the user from the tactile pattern storing unit. Atactile pattern output unit is configured to output the tactile patterncorresponding to the attribute added to the selected entry field, thusallowing the user of the information input device to sense by the senseof touch whether input in the selected entry field is required.

Yet anther exemplary aspect of the invention is a file selection devicefor allowing a user to select a file from a plurality of files. Thedevice includes a file information generation unit configured togenerate, when the user selects a piece of file identificationinformation identifying a file, attribute information. The attributeinformation can be, for example, a file attribute of the filecorresponding to the selected piece of file identification information.A tactile pattern storage unit is configured to store a tactile patterncorresponding to the file attribute. A tactile pattern acquisition unitis configured to acquire the tactile pattern corresponding to the fileattribute of the file corresponding to the piece of file identificationinformation selected by the user from the tactile pattern storage unit.A tactile pattern output unit is configured to output the tactilepattern corresponding to the file attribute of the file corresponding tosaid file identification information selected by the user, allowing theuser of the file selection device to sense the file attribute of thefile corresponding to the selected piece of file identificationinformation by sense of touch.

A further exemplary aspect of the invention is a telephone set. Thetelephone set includes a tactile pattern notification instruction inputunit configured to allow a user to input a tactile pattern notificationinstruction, notifying another party of a predetermined tactile patternby the sense of touch. A tactile pattern notification instructiontransmitter is configured to transmit, when the user inputs the tactilepattern notification instruction during voice communication, a tactilepattern notification request to a telephone set used by the other party.A tactile pattern output unit is configured to output, when a tactilepattern notification request requesting to notify the user of thetactile pattern by the sense of touch is received from the telephone setof the other party during voice communication, the tactile pattern toallow the user to sense the tactile pattern by sense of touch.

Another exemplary aspect of the invention is a voice output device foroutputting linguistic information. The linguistic information includes aplurality of linguistic elements such as characters or phrases by voice.The voice output device includes an output information acquisition unitconfigured to acquire record information. The record informationincludes the linguistic information recorded and attribute information.The attribute information includes an attribute added to each linguisticelement included in the linguistic information. A tactile patternstorage unit is configured to store a predetermined tactile patterncorresponding to each of attributes added to the linguistic elements. Atactile pattern acquisition unit is configured to acquire, for each oflinguistic element, the tactile pattern corresponding to an attributeadded to the linguistic element of interest from the tactile patternstorage unit. A voice output unit is configured to reproduce the recordinformation and output the reproduced record information by voice. Atactile pattern output unit is configured to output, in parallel withreproduction of each of the linguistic elements, the tactile patterncorresponding to the attribute added to the linguistic element ofinterest, thus allowing the user of the voice output device to sense thetactile pattern by the sense of touch. The tactile pattern output unitincludes a plurality of tactile pins configured to be brought intocontact with said user and a tactile pin drive unit configured to driveeach of the tactile pins into contact with and away from the user,allowing the tactile pins to output the tactile pattern.

Another exemplary aspect of the invention is a computer program productembodied in a tangible media. The computer program product includescomputer readable program codes coupled to the tangible media forcausing a computer to function as a voice output device outputtinglinguistic information including a plurality of linguistic elements. Thecomputer readable program codes include an output informationacquisition module configured to acquire the linguistic information andattribute information. The attribute information includes an attributeadded to each linguistic element included in the linguistic information.A tactile pattern storage module is configured to store a predeterminedtactile pattern corresponding to each of attributes added to thelinguistic elements. A tactile pattern acquisition module is configuredto acquire the tactile pattern corresponding to an attribute added toeach linguistic element from the tactile pattern storage module. A voiceoutput module is configured to read aloud the linguistic elementsincluded in the linguistic information. A tactile pattern output moduleis configured to output, in parallel with reading aloud each linguisticelement, the tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to thelinguistic element of interest, thus allowing a user of the computerprogram product to sense the tactile pattern by sense of touch.

Another exemplary aspect of the invention is a computer program productfor causing a computer to function as an information input device whichdisplays an entry screen including a plurality of entry fields andallows a user to input information in each of the entry fields. Theprogram codes of the computer program product include an entry screendisplay module configured to display the entry screen (the entry screenincludes the plurality of entry fields). An entry field informationgeneration module is configured to generate, when the user selects oneof the entry fields, attribute information. The attribute informationincludes an attribute to identify whether input in the selected entryfield is required. A tactile pattern storage module is configured tostore a predetermined tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute toidentify whether input in the entry field of interest is required. Atactile pattern acquisition module is configured to acquire the tactilepattern corresponding to the attribute added to the entry field selectedby the user from the tactile pattern storing module. A tactile patternoutput module is configured to output the tactile pattern correspondingto the attribute added to the selected entry field, thereby allowing theuser of the computer program product to sense by the sense of touchwhether input in the selected entry field is required.

Another exemplary aspect of the invention is a computer program productfor causing a computer to function as a file selection device causing auser to select a file from a plurality of files. The program codes ofthe computer program product include a file information generationmodule configured to generate, when the user selects a piece of fileidentification information identifying a file, attribute informationincluding a file attribute of the file corresponding to the selectedpiece of file identification information. A tactile pattern storagemodule is configured to store a tactile pattern corresponding to thefile attribute. A tactile pattern acquisition module is configured toacquire the tactile pattern corresponding to the file attribute of thefile corresponding to the piece of file identification informationselected by the user from the tactile pattern storage module. A tactilepattern output module is configured to output the tactile patterncorresponding to the file attribute of the file corresponding to thefile identification information selected by the user to allow the userof the computer program product to sense the file attribute of the filecorresponding to the selected piece of file identification informationby the sense of touch.

Another exemplary aspect of the invention is a computer program productfor causing a computer to function as a voice output device outputtinglinguistic information including a plurality of linguistic elements suchas characters or phrases by voice. The program codes of the computerprogram product include a tactile pattern storage module configured tostore a predetermined tactile pattern corresponding to each ofattributes added to linguistic elements. A tactile pattern acquisitionmodule is configured to acquire, for each of linguistic element, thetactile pattern corresponding to an attribute added to the linguisticelement of interest from the tactile pattern storage module. A voiceoutput module is configured to reproduce the record information andoutput the reproduced record information by voice. A tactile patternoutput module configured to output, in parallel with reproduction ofeach linguistic element, the tactile pattern corresponding to theattribute added to the linguistic element of interest to allow the userof the computer program product to sense the tactile pattern by thesense of touch. The tactile pattern output module is coupled to aplurality of tactile pins for contact with the user and a tactile pindrive unit for driving the tactile pins in contact with and away fromthe user, allowing the tactile pins to output the tactile pattern.

Yet another exemplary aspect of the present invention is a method foroutputting linguistic information. The linguistic information includes aplurality of linguistic elements, such as characters and phrases byvoice. The method includes an acquiring operation to acquire thelinguistic information and attribute information. The attributeinformation includes an attribute added to each of the linguisticelements included in the linguistic information. A storing operationstores a predetermined tactile pattern corresponding to each of theattributes added to the linguistic elements. An acquiring operationacquires the tactile pattern corresponding to an attribute added to thelinguistic elements. A reading operation reads aloud the linguisticelements included in the linguistic information. An outputting operationoutputs, in parallel with reading aloud each of the linguistic elements,the tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to thelinguistic element of interest, thereby allowing a user of the method tosense the tactile pattern by the sense of touch.

The aforementioned summary of the exemplary aspects of the presentinvention does not enumerate all features of the present invention, andsub combinations of these features can be implementations of the presentinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a voice output system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an operation flow of a voice output device according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen to be read according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an entry screen according to the embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a file select screen according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows an exterior of a telephone set according to a modifiedexample of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration of the telephone set according to themodified example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a hardware configuration of a computeraccording to the embodiment of the present invention.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   10 . . . voice output system    -   40 . . . storage device    -   100 . . . voice output device    -   102 . . . transformation unit    -   104 . . . file processing unit    -   106 . . . file identification information display unit    -   108 . . . file information generation unit    -   110 . . . entry screen processing unit    -   112 . . . entry screen display unit    -   114 . . . entry field information generation unit    -   120 . . . output information acquisition unit    -   125 . . . tactile pattern storage unit    -   130 . . . tactile pattern acquisition unit    -   132 . . . most-frequent attribute search unit    -   135 . . . voice output unit    -   137 . . . speaker    -   140 . . . tactile pattern output unit    -   142 . . . tactile pin    -   144 . . . tactile pin drive unit    -   150 . . . voice output speed change unit    -   152 . . . shuttle dial    -   154 . . . jog dial    -   300 . . . screen to be read    -   310 a to 310 e . . . output information    -   400 . . . entry screen    -   410 a to 410 j . . . entry field    -   500 . . . file select screen    -   510 a to 510 c . . . file identification information    -   600 . . . telephone set    -   610 a to 610 c . . . tactile pattern notification instruction        input units    -   620 . . . tactile pattern output unit    -   710 . . . transmitter    -   720 . . . receiver    -   750 . . . communication unit    -   760 . . . voice communication unit    -   770 . . . tactile pattern notification instruction transmitter    -   780 . . . tactile pattern notification instruction receiver    -   900 . . . CPU    -   910 . . . ROM    -   920 . . . RAM    -   930 . . . communication interface    -   940 . . . storage device    -   950 . . . flexible disk drive    -   960 . . . CD-ROM drive    -   970 . . . I/O chip    -   975 . . . graphic controller    -   980 . . . display unit    -   982 . . . host controller    -   984 . . . I/O controller    -   986 . . . input device    -   988 . . . voice output device    -   990 . . . flexible disk    -   995 . . . CD-ROM    -   1000 . . . computer

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a description will be given of the present inventionthrough an exemplary embodiment of the invention. This embodiment doesnot limit the present invention according to the claims, and allcombinations of features described in the embodiment are not necessarilyrequired for means of solving the problems of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a voice output system 10 according toone embodiment of the invention. The voice output system 10 outputsoutput information to both senses of hearing and touch of a user inparallel. Herein, the output information is information stored in astorage device 40, information obtained through a network, informationwhich a user should be notified of with output and input through adisplay device 980 and an input device 986, and the like. The voiceoutput system 10 is configured to efficiently transmit the outputinformation in comparison in the case where the output information isoutputted to any one of the senses, as described in detailed below.

The voice output system 10 includes the storage device 40, the displaydevice 980, the input device 986, and a voice input device 100. Thestorage device 40 stores various types of files including the outputinformation. The display device 980 displays a screen in whichinformation is outputted for a user. The input device 986 allows a userto input an operation in response to a screen displayed on the displaydevice 980. The voice output device 100 outputs the output informationusing both sound and tactile stimulation. The voice output device 100outputs linguistic information, among the information, including aplurality of sounds, characters, words, phrases, or the like (alsoreferred to herein as linguistic elements) by voice and causes a user tosense attribute information including an attribute which is added toeach of the plurality of linguistic elements included in the linguisticinformation by the sense of touch.

The voice output device 100 includes a transformation unit 102, a fileprocessing unit 104, a file identification information display unit 106,a file information generation unit 108, an entry screen processing unit110, an entry screen display unit 112, an entry field informationgeneration unit 114, an output information acquisition unit 120, atactile pattern storage unit 125, a tactile pattern acquisition unit130, a most-frequent attribute search unit 132, a voice output unit 135,a speaker 137, a tactile pattern output unit 140, a voice output speedchange unit 150, a shuttle dial 152, and a jog dial 154.

The transformation unit 102 receives output information such as a webpage or the like inputted via a network and a rich text or the likestored in the storage device 40, transforms the received outputinformation into a combination of linguistic information and attributeinformation, and then supplies the same to the output informationacquisition unit 120. The file processing unit 104 manages files storedin the storage device 40 and performs a process to allow a user toselect a file which the user is to access through the input device 986.The file identification information display unit 106 displays a piece offile identification information for each of the plurality of filesstored in the storage device 40 on the display device 980. For example,the piece of file identification information may include the name of thefile. In the file information generation unit 108, when the user selectsa piece of file identification information displayed on the displaydevice 980 by using the input device 986, linguistic informationincluding a phrase indicating a name of a file corresponding to theselected piece of file identification information and attributeinformation including a file attribute of the file corresponding to thatpiece of file identification information are generated and then suppliedto the output information acquisition unit 120.

The entry screen processing unit 110 performs a process to allow a userto input multiple pieces of information through the entry screenincluding a plurality of entry fields. The entry screen display unit 112displays the entry screen on the display device 980. In the entry fieldinformation generation unit 114, when a user selects an entry field,linguistic information, which can be a phrase indicating the name of theselected entry field, and attribute information, including an attributeadded to the entry field, are generated and then supplied to the outputinformation acquisition unit 120. Herein, the attribute informationidentifies whether input in the entry field is required. The outputinformation acquisition unit 120 acquires the output information whichis composed of the linguistic information and the attribute informationand supplied by the transformation unit 102, the file informationgeneration unit 108, and/or the entry field information generation unit114.

The tactile pattern storage unit 125 stores a predetermined tactilepattern corresponding to each of the attributes added to characters orphrases. The tactile pattern acquisition unit 130 acquires a tactilepattern corresponding to an attribute added to each of a plurality ofcharacters or phrases included in the linguistic information from thetactile pattern storage unit 125. The most-frequent attribute searchunit 132 searches for a most-frequent attribute, which is an attributeadded to the largest number of characters or phrases among the pluralityof characters or phrases included in the linguistic information. Thevoice output unit 135 reads the plurality of characters or phrasesincluded in the linguistic information acquired by the outputinformation acquisition unit 120 by using means such as voice synthesisand then outputs the same through the speaker 137 by voice.

In parallel with reading of each of the plurality of characters orphrases with the voice output unit 135, the tactile pattern output unit140 outputs a tactile pattern corresponding to an attribute added to thecharacter or phrase of interest to cause the user of the voice outputdevice 100 to sense the tactile pattern by the sense of touch. Herein,in parallel with reading of each of the plurality of linguisticelements, such as characters or phrases, the tactile pattern output unit140 outputs a tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute when theattribute added to the character or phrase is not the most-frequentattribute and stops outputting the tactile pattern when the attributeadded to the character or phrase of interest is the most-frequentattribute.

The tactile pattern output unit 140 includes a plurality of tactile pins142 and a tactile pin drive unit 144. The tactile pins 142 are broughtinto contact with a user. The tactile pin drive unit 144 drives each ofthe plurality of tactile pins 142 in such a direction that the tactilepin 142 is brought into contact with the user or such a direction thatthe tactile pin 142 is moving away from the user to cause the pluralityof tactile pins 142 to output a tactile pattern. For example, thetactile pattern output unit 140 has a construction that each of theplurality of tactile pins 142 is independently driven by the tactile pindrive unit 144 by using a piezoelectric vibrator or the like, wherein 32tactile pins 142 are arranged in 16×2.

The voice output speed change unit 150 changes the reading speed of thevoice output unit 135 based on an instruction of the user. Morespecifically, for changing the reading speed, the voice output speedchange unit 150 supplies the reading speed to the output informationacquisition unit 120. Upon receiving this reading speed, the outputinformation acquisition unit 120 changes the reading speed at which thevoice output unit 135 reads the linguistic information and supplies thenumber of output times of the tactile pattern via the tactile patternacquisition unit 130. The number of output times is determined based onthe reading speed and inversely proportional to the reading speed. Uponreceiving this number of output times, as the voice output unit 135reads a series of characters or phrases to which a same attribute isadded, the tactile pattern output unit 140 outputs a tactile patterncorresponding to the attribute added to the series of characters orphrases at a regular speed independent of the reading speed as manytimes as the number of output times inversely proportional to thereading speed. Accordingly, the tactile pattern output unit 140 canoutput the tactile pattern at a regular rate independent of the readingspeed. Moreover, the tactile pattern can be surely transmitted to theuser even in the case of fast forwarding or the like. In the reading oflinguistic information inputted via the transformation unit 102, thevoice output speed change unit 150 changes a position to be read in thelinguistic information based on an instruction of the user.

The voice output speed change unit 150 is connected to the shuttle dial152 and the jog dial 154. The shuttle dial 152 is an input device withwhich a user inputs an instruction to change the reading speed. The jogdial is an input device with which a user inputs an instruction tochange a position to be read.

The shuttle dial 152 is provided, for example, around the jog dial 154and returned to a default rotation angle when the user releases his/herhand. The voice output speed change unit 150 sets the reading speed tothe standard speed when the shuttle dial 152 is positioned at thedefault rotation angle. When the user rotates the shuttle dial 152 inone direction, for example, in the clockwise direction, the voice outputspeed change unit 150 increases the reading speed according to theamount of rotation. On the contrary, when the user rotates the shuttledial 152 in an opposite direction, for example, in the counterclockwisedirection, the voice output speed change unit 150 reduces the readingspeed according to the amount of rotation.

Herein, when the user releases his or her hand and the shuttle dial 152is returned to the default rotation angle, the voice output speed changeunit 150 may detect that the shuttle dial 152 has been returned based onthe rotational speed of the shuttle dial 152 and maintain the readingspeed before the shuttle dial 152 is returned to the default rotationangle.

The jog dial 154 is concentrically provided inside the shuttle dial 152.When the user rotates the jog dial 154 in a direction, for example inthe clockwise direction, the voice output rate change unit 150fast-forwards the linguistic information to be read. When the userrotates the jog dial 154 in the opposite direction, for example, in thecounterclockwise direction, the voice output speed change unit 150rewinds the linguistic information to be read. Herein, the voice outputspeed change unit 150 may perform fast forwarding and rewinding inphrases, paragraphs, list items or the like. Even in rewinding, phrases,paragraphs, list items, and the like may be reproduced in a forwarddirection to be recognizable. In addition, when the user continues torotate the jog dial 154 in a forward or backward direction, the voiceoutput speed change unit 150 allows the voice output unit 135 to performreading at a reading speed according to the speed of rotation.

According to the voice output device 100 described above, the attributeinformation included in the linguistic information can be outputted bythe sense of touch in parallel with output of the linguistic informationof the output information by voice. Therefore, it is possible to presentthe attribute information to the user without preventing the user fromunderstanding the linguistic information. Moreover, in reading webpages, rich text information, and the like, outputting tactile patternsis stopped in most of the linguistic information, and tactile patternsare outputted only for attributes of part of the linguistic information,thus allowing the user to easily know the attributes. Accordingly, it ispossible to efficiently transmit information in the cases of outputtinginformation read by PDA or the like to a moving or driving user,presenting information to visually-impaired people, and the like.

In the above description, the voice output system 10 may have a functionto output the attribute information by tactile patterns insynchronization with reproduction of recorded linguistic information.Specifically, the output information acquisition unit 120 acquiresrecord information with linguistic information recorded therein andattribute information including an attribute added to each of aplurality of characters or phrases included in the linguisticinformation. The voice output unit 135 acquires the record informationfrom the output information acquisition unit 120 and reproduces therecord information to output the same by voice. In parallel withreproducing each of the plurality of characters or phrases by the voiceoutput unit 135, the tactile pattern output unit 140 outputs a tactilepattern corresponding to an attribute added to the character or phraseof interest to allow the user to sense the attribute by the sense oftouch.

In order to implement the above function, the output informationacquisition unit 120 may acquire attribute information, for example,which includes a pair of a recording position in the record informationto record each of the plurality of characters or phrases included in thelinguistic information and an attribute corresponding to the recordingposition.

FIG. 2 shows an operation flow of the voice output device 100 accordingto one embodiment of the invention. First, the voice output device 100selects output information to be outputted based on an instruction of auser (S200). Herein, in the case of outputting output information suchas web pages or rich text information, the voice output speed changeunit 150 selects a reading position in the output information based onan instruction of the user made by the jog dial 154 and supplies thereading position to the output information acquisition unit 120. In thecase of assisting the user in selecting a file, the file informationgeneration unit 108 generates the output information including thelinguistic information and the attribute information which correspond toa piece of file identification information selected by the user and thensupplies the generated output information to the output informationacquisition unit 120. In the case of causing the user to input multiplepieces of information in the entry screen, the entry field informationgeneration unit 114 generates the output information including thelinguistic information and the attribute information corresponding to anentry field selected by the user and then supplies the generated outputinformation to the output information acquisition unit 120. Herein, theuser selects the entry field by an operation such as placing a mousecursor over the entry field or focusing on the entry field.

Subsequently, the output information acquisition unit 120 acquires theoutput information which is composed of the linguistic and attributeinformation and supplied from the transformation unit 102, the fileinformation generation unit 108, and/or the entry field informationgeneration unit 114 (S210). The tactile pattern acquisition unit 130then acquires a tactile pattern corresponding to an attribute from thetactile pattern storage unit 125, the attribute being added to each of aplurality of characters or phrases included in the linguisticinformation (S220). The most-frequent attribute search unit 132 searchesfor the most-frequent attribute as an attribute added to the largestnumber of characters or phrases among the plurality of characters orphrases included in the linguistic information.

Subsequently, the voice output speed change unit 150 determines thereading speed based on an instruction of the user through the shuttledial 152 and sets the reading speed at the output information acquiringunit 120 (S230). The voice output unit 135 reads the plurality ofcharacters or phrases included in the linguistic information at thereading speed which the voice output speed change unit 150 sets at theoutput information acquisition unit 120 (S240). In parallel with readingby the voice output unit 135, the tactile pattern output unit 140outputs a tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to thecharacter or phrase of interest when the attribute is not themost-frequent attribute (S240).

FIG. 3 shows a web page obtained via a network, which is an example of ascreen 300 to be read according to the embodiment. The screen 300 to beread includes pieces 310 a to 310 e of output information as objects tobe read.

The piece of output information 310 a is the output information with acharacter size larger than usual, for example, such as an article titleand a unit name. In order to output such an attribute by a tactilepattern, the tactile pattern storage unit 125 stores a tactile patterncorresponding to each of character sizes. For the piece of outputinformation 310 a, the output information acquisition unit 120 acquiresthe attribution information which includes the character size which isadded to each of the plurality of characters or phrases included in thelinguistic information and the character or phrase of interest should bedisplayed in as the attribute of the character or phrase. Herein, thelinguistic information is text part of the piece of output information310 a. For each of the plurality of characters or phrases, the tactilepattern acquisition unit 130 acquires a tactile pattern corresponding tothe character size of the character or phrase of interest from thetactile pattern storage unit 125 as a tactile pattern corresponding tothe attribute added to the character or phrase. The tactile patternoutput unit 140 outputs the tactile pattern corresponding to thecharacter size to allow the user to sense the character size attributesadded to the linguistic information.

The piece of output information 310 b is the output informationincluding an attribute most frequently used in the screen 300 to beread. The most-frequent attribute search unit 132 searches for themost-frequent attribute in the output information included in the screen300 to be read. In the case where the attribute added to a character orphrase is the most-frequent attribute like the piece of outputinformation 310 b, the tactile pattern output unit 140 stops outputtingthe tactile pattern in the reading of the piece of output information310 b. The tactile pattern output unit 140 stops outputting the tactilepattern when outputting the most of the linguistic information andoutputs tactile patterns for only part of the linguistic information inparallel with the reading. This enables the user to easily know thetactile patterns for this part of the linguistic information.

The piece of output information 310 c is the output information composedof a pair of the linguistic information including a plurality ofcharacters or phrases displayed in a screen of the display device 980that the user uses and the attribute information including a backgroundcolor of a position where each of the plurality of characters or phrasesincluded in the linguistic information is displayed as the attribute ofthe character or phrase of interest. In order to output such anattribute by the tactile pattern, the tactile pattern storage unit 125stores a tactile pattern corresponding to each of background colors inadvance. For each of the plurality of characters or phrases, the tactilepattern acquisition unit 130 outputs a tactile pattern corresponding tothe background color at a position where the character or phrase ofinterest is displayed in the screen of the display device 980 as thetactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to the character orphrase. Upon receiving the tactile pattern, the tactile pattern outputunit 140 outputs the tactile pattern corresponding to the backgroundcolor. Therefore, it is possible to properly transmit the outputinformation classified by background colors to the user.

The piece of output information 310 d is the output informationincluding, as the attribute information, an attribute that is added toeach of the plurality of characters or phrases and identifies that thecharacter or phrase of interest is a line's first character in listdisplay. Herein, the list display is a display style composed of aplurality of items each including part of the plurality of characters orphrases, the items following respective line's first characters, forexample, such as “•”, “-”, “*”, and “(1), (2) . . . ” In order to outputsuch an attribute by a tactile pattern, the tactile pattern storage unit125 stores a tactile pattern corresponding to each type of the line'sfirst characters in advance. For each of the plurality of characters orphrases, the tactile pattern acquisition unit 130 outputs a tactilepattern corresponding to an attribute identifying that the character orphrase of interest is the line's first character when the character orphrase is the line's first character. In parallel with reading of eachof the plurality of characters or phrases, the tactile pattern outputunit 140 outputs a tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute thatis added to the character or phrase of interest and identifies that thecharacter or phrase is the line's first character. Therefore, each itemcan be properly transmitted to the user.

The piece of output information 310 e is output information including atleast one attribute of bold, italic, and underline display in displayingthe character or phrase of interest, the attribute being added to eachof the plurality of characters or phrases. In FIG. 3, the attributeinformation corresponding to the piece of output information 310 eincludes the underline display attribute added to a phrase “Shinkansenschedule”. In order to output such an attribute by a tactile pattern,the tactile pattern storage unit 125 stores a tactile patterncorresponding to at least one attribute of bold, italic, and underlinedisplay in advance. For each of the plurality of characters or phrases,when at least one attribute of bold, italic, and underline display isadded to the character or phrase of interest, the tactile patternacquisition unit 130 outputs a tactile pattern corresponding to theattribute. In parallel with reading each of the plurality of charactersor phrases, the tactile pattern output unit 140 outputs the tactilepattern corresponding to at least one attribute of bold, italic, andunderline display added to the character or phrase of interest.Therefore, these character decoration types can be properly transmittedto the user. In addition to the above, the tactile pattern output unit140 may output tactile patterns corresponding to attributes such asenclosing marks added to characters or phrases.

In the above description, the transformation unit 102 may transform theoutput information into the linguistic information and the attributeinformation by transforming the output information such as a web pageinto output information expressed by a markup language, in which theattribute information is added to a text of the linguistic informationin tag format.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an entry screen 400 according to oneembodiment of the invention. The entry screen 400 is displayed on thedisplay device 980 by the entry screen display unit 112 and includes aplurality of entry fields 410.

When the user selects one of entry fields 410 a to 410 j, the entryfield information generation unit 114 generates the linguisticinformation which is a phrase indicating a name of the selected entryfield and the attribute information added to the selected entry field.This attribute information includes an attribute identifying whetherinput in the entry field is required. In order to output such anattribute by a tactile pattern, the tactile pattern storage unit 125previously stores a tactile pattern which indicates that input in theentry field is required to correspond to the attribute which is includedin the attribute information supplied from the file informationgeneration unit 108 and identifies that input in an entry field ofinterest is required. Moreover, the tactile pattern storage unit 125previously stores a tactile pattern indicating that input in an entryfield of interest is not required to correspond to an attributeidentifying that input in the entry field of interest is not required.

The tactile pattern acquisition unit 130 acquires a tactile patterncorresponding to an attribute added to an entry field from the tactilepattern storage unit 125, the entry field 410 being selected by theuser. The voice output unit 135 reads the name of an entry fieldincluded in the linguistic information. In parallel with the reading ofthe name of the entry field, the tactile pattern output unit 140 outputsthe tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to the entryfield of interest to allow the user of the voice output device 100 tosense by the sense of touch whether input in the entry field of interestis required.

For example, in the case where the user selects the entry field “name”,the voice output unit 135 reads the “name” as the name assigned to theselected entry field. In parallel with this reading, the tactile patternoutput unit 140 outputs a tactile pattern corresponding to an attributeidentifying that input in the entry field of “name” is required. On theother hand, in the case where the user selects the entry field “mail”,the voice output unit 135 reads the “mail”. In parallel with thisreading, the tactile pattern output unit 140 outputs a tactile patterncorresponding to an attribute identifying that input in the entry field“mail” is not required.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a file select screen 500 according to oneembodiment of the invention. The file select screen 500 is a screenallowing the user to select a file and displayed on a display device 980by the file identifying information display unit 106.

The file select screen 500 includes multiple pieces 510 a to 510 c offile identification information each including different file names.When the user selects one of pieces 510 a to 510 c of fileidentification information displayed on the display device 980 by usingthe input device 986, the file information generation unit 108 generatesthe linguistic information and the attribute information. Herein, thelinguistic information includes a phrase indicating a name of a filecorresponding to the selected piece of file identification information510. The attribute information includes a file attribute of the filecorresponding to the selected piece of file identification information510. The file information generation unit 108 then supplies thegenerated linguistic and attribute information to the output informationacquisition unit 120. In order to output such a file attribute by atactile pattern, the tactile pattern storage unit 125 stores in advancea tactile pattern corresponding to each of file attributes included inattribute information supplied from the entry field informationgeneration unit 114. Herein, the file attributes may be file extensions,namely, attributes usually used for identifying file types, for example,such as “.doc”, “.xls”, and “.pdf”, or may be attributes such as size ofa file of interest or the access right to a file of interest.

The tactile pattern acquisition unit 130 acquires, from the tactilepattern storage unit 125, a tactile pattern which corresponds to thefile attribute of the file corresponding to the piece of fileidentification information 510 selected by the user. The voice outputunit 135 reads the file name included in the linguistic information. Inparallel with reading of the file name, the tactile pattern output unit140 outputs the tactile pattern which corresponds to the file attributeof the file corresponding to the selected piece of file identificationinformation 510 to allow the user to sense the tactile pattern by thesense of touch.

For example, in the case where the user selects the piece 510 a of fileidentification information, the voice output unit 135 reads a file name“AAA” corresponding to the piece 510 a of file identificationinformation. The tactile pattern output unit 140 outputs a tactilepattern corresponding to the file attribute of the file in parallel withthe reading.

FIG. 6 shows the exterior of a telephone set 600 according to a modifiedexample of the embodiment. An object of the telephone set 600 is totransmit a tactile pattern to a party based on an instruction of a userand enable the user to sense a tactile pattern transmitted from theparty during voice communication.

The telephone set 600 includes a tactile pattern notificationinstruction input unit 610 and a tactile pattern output unit 620. Thetactile pattern notification instruction input unit 610 allows a user toinput a tactile pattern notification instruction to notify a party of apredetermined tactile pattern by the sense of touch. The tactile patternoutput unit 620 outputs a tactile pattern transmitted to the user from atelephone set of the party to allow the user to sense the tactilepattern. In this modified example, a plurality of the tactile patternnotification instruction input units 610, including input units 610 a to610 c, are provided to allow the user to input instructions to notifythe party of different tactile patterns.

In this modified example, the tactile pattern notification instructioninput units 610 are provided at such positions that the user can operatethem by using the index, the middle, and/or the ring finger. On theother hand, the tactile pattern output unit 620 is provided at such aposition that the user can sense the tactile pattern by the sense oftouch with the thumb. It is contemplated that instead of the tactilepattern notification instruction input units 610 a to 610 c describedabove, the telephone set 600 may implement the same function as that ofthe tactile pattern notification instruction input units 610 a to 610 cby performing a predetermined operation with dial buttons during voicecommunication.

FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the telephone set 600 according to themodified example of the embodiment. The telephone set 600 includes thetactile pattern notification instruction input unit 610, the tactilepattern output unit 620, a transmitter 710, a receiver 720, and acommunication unit 750. The tactile pattern notification instructioninput unit 610 allows a user to input the tactile pattern notificationinstruction. When the tactile pattern notification instruction isinputted from the user during voice communication, the tactile patternnotification instruction input unit 610 transmits a tactile patternnotification request for requesting notification of a tactile pattern toa telephone set used by a party via a tactile pattern notificationinstruction transmitter 770 within the communication unit 750.

In the case of receiving the tactile pattern notification request forrequesting notification of a tactile pattern by the sense of touch fromthe telephone set of the party to the user during voice communication,the tactile pattern output unit 620 outputs the tactile pattern to allowthe user to sense the tactile pattern by the sense of touch. The tactilepattern output unit 620 may have the same configuration as that of thetactile pattern output unit 140 shown in FIG. 1. The transmitter 710receives the voice that the user of the telephone set 600 spoke duringvoice communication. The receiver 720 receives the voice that the partyspoke from the telephone set thereof via a voice communication unit 760within the communication unit 750 during voice communication and outputsthe received voice as voice.

The communication unit 750 includes the voice communication unit 760,the tactile pattern notification instruction transmitter 770, and atactile pattern notification instruction receiver 780. The voicecommunication unit 760 relays voice communication between the user ofthe telephone set 600 and the party through a telephone line. Thetactile pattern notification instruction transmitter 770 transmits thetactile pattern notification request based on a user's instructioninputted in the tactile pattern notification instruction input unit 610to the telephone set of the party via the telephone line. The tactilepattern notification instruction receiver 780 outputs to the tactilepattern output unit 620 the tactile pattern notification requesttransmitted to the telephone set 600 through the tactile patternnotification instruction input unit 610 and the tactile patternnotification instruction transmitter 770 which are provided in thetelephone set of the party and causes the tactile pattern output unit620 to output the tactile pattern to the user.

According to the telephone set 600 described above, the user of thetelephone set 600 can notify the party of attributes of contents in theconversation and the like by the sense of touch by operating the tactilepattern notification instruction input unit 610 during voicecommunication. In other words, for example, the user of the telephoneset 600 can transmit a tactile pattern in response to an importantmatter in the conversation, so that it can be informed that the contentof presently spoken is the important matter.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 1000according to the embodiment. The computer 1000 according to theembodiment includes a CPU periphery block, an input/output block, and alegacy input/output block. The CPU periphery block includes a CPU 900, aRAM 920, and a graphic controller 975, each being mutually connectedthrough a host controller 982. The input/output block includes acommunication interface 930, a storage device 940, and a CD-ROM drive960, each being connected to the host controller 982 through an I/Ocontroller 984. The legacy input/output block includes a ROM 910, aflexible disk drive 950, an I/O chip 970, an input device 986, and avoice output device 988, which are connected to the I/O controller 984.

The host controller 982 connects the RAM 920 and each of the CPU 900 andthe graphic controller 975 which access the RAM 920 at high transferrate. The CPU 900 operates based on programs stored in the ROM 910 andthe RAM 920 and controls each block. The graphic controller 975 acquiresimage data that the CPU 900 and the like create on a frame bufferprovided within the RAM 920 and displays the image data on the displaydevice 980. Instead, the graphic controller 975 may include a framebuffer storing the image data that the CPU 900 and the like create.

The I/O controller 984 connects the host controller 982 and each of thecommunication interface 930, the storage device 940, and the CD-ROMdrive 960, which are comparatively high speed input/output devices. Thecommunication interface 930 communicates with other devices via anetwork. The storage device 940 stores programs and data used by the CPU900 within the computer 1000. The CD-ROM drive 960 reads programs anddata from a CD-ROM 995 and provides the programs and data to the storagedevice 940 via the RAM 920.

The I/O controller 984 is connected to the ROM 910 and the comparativelylow speed input/output devices such as the flexible disk drive 950, theI/O chip 970, the input device 986, and the voice output device 988. TheROM 910 stores a boot program that the computer 1000 executes on startup, a program depending on hardware of the computer 1000, and the like.The flexible disk drive 950 reads a program or data from a flexible disk990 and provides the program or data to the storage device 940 via theRAM 920. The I/O chip 970 connects the flexible disk drive 950 andconnects various input/output devices including the input device 986 andthe voice output device 988 via, for example, a parallel port, serialport, keyboard port, mouse port and the like. The voice output device988 includes the speaker 137, the tactile pins 142, and the tactile pindrive unit 144, the shuttle dial 152, and the jog dial 154 of the voiceoutput device 100 shown in FIG. 1.

The program provided for the storage device 940 via the RAM 920 isstored in a recording medium such as the flexible disk 990, the CD-ROM995, or an IC card and provided by the user. The program is read outfrom the recording medium, installed in the storage device 940 withinthe computer 1000 via the RAM 920, and executed in the CPU 900.

A program installed in the computer 1000 to cause the computer 1000 tofunction as the voice output system 10 includes a transforming module, afile processing module, a file identification information displaymodule, a file information generation module, an entry screen processingmodule, an entry screen display module, an entry field informationgeneration module, an output information acquisition module, a tactilepattern storage module, a tactile pattern acquisition module, amost-frequent attribute search module, a voice output module, a tactilepattern output module, and a voice output speed change module. Theprogram or these modules are caused to function as the transformationunit 102, the file processing unit 104, the file identificationinformation display unit 106, the file information generation unit 108,the entry screen processing unit 110, the entry screen display unit 112,the entry field information generation unit 114, the output informationacquisition unit 120, the tactile pattern storage unit 125, the tactilepattern acquisition unit 130, the most-frequent attribute search unit132, the voice output unit 135, the tactile pattern output unit 140, andthe voice output speed change unit 150, respectively.

A program installed in the telephone set 600 includes a tactile patternnotification instruction input module, a tactile pattern output module,a transmitter module, a receiver module, and a communication modulehaving a voice communication module, a tactile pattern notificationinstruction transmitter module, and a tactile pattern notificationinstruction receiver module. These programs or modules cause thetelephone set 600 to function as the tactile pattern notificationinstruction input unit 610, tactile pattern output unit 620, transmitterunit 710, receiver unit 720, and the communication unit 750 having thetactile pattern notification instruction transmitter unit 770, tactilepattern notification instruction receiver unit 780, and the voicecommunication unit 760, respectively.

The programs or modules described above may be stored in an externalstorage medium. For the storage medium, an optical recording medium suchas DVD or PD, a magneto-optical recording medium such as MD, a tapemedium, a semiconductor memory such as an IC card, or the like isavailable in addition to the flexible disk 990 and the CD-ROM 995.Alternatively, it is possible to use a storage device such as a harddisk or RAM provided in a server system connected to a privatecommunication network or the Internet as the storage medium and providethe programs to the computer 1000 via a network.

The present invention has been described above by using the embodiment,but the technical scope of the invention is not limited to the scopedescribed in the above embodiment. It will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be appliedto the aforementioned embodiment. It is apparent from the claims thatmodes with these various changes or modifications applied thereto fallwithin the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, the voice output system 10 may function as an informationinput device which displays an entry screen including a plurality ofentry fields and allows a user to input information in the individualentry fields. Specifically, the entry field information generation unit114 generates the attribute information including an attribute whichidentifies whether input in an entry field selected by the user isrequired. The voice output device 100 may allow the user to sense withthe tactile pattern output unit 140 whether input in the entry field ofinterest is required without reading aloud the name of the entry fieldby the voice output unit 135. Accordingly, the voice output system 10can properly notify the user of the attribute of the entry field by acombination of the screen display by the display device 980 and outputof the tactile pattern by the tactile pattern output unit 140.

Moreover, the voice output system 10 may function as a file selectiondevice to allow a user to select a file from a plurality of files.Specifically, when the user selects a piece of file identificationinformation for identifying a file, the file information generation unit108 generates the attribute information including the file attribute ofthe file corresponding to the piece of file identification informationof interest. The voice output device 100 may output a tactile patterncorresponding to the file attribute of the file without reading aloudthe name of the file by the voice output unit 135 to allow the user ofthe file selection device to sense the file attribute by the sense oftouch. Accordingly, the voice output system 10 can properly notify theuser of the file attribute by a combination of the screen display by thedisplay device 980 and the output of the tactile pattern by the tactilepattern output unit 140.

Thus, the embodiments disclosed were chosen and described in order tobest explain the principles of the invention and its practicalapplication to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilizethe invention in various embodiments and various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that theappended claims be construed to include other alternative embodiments ofthe invention except insofar as limited by the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information input device which displays anentry screen including a plurality of entry fields and allows a user toinput information in each of the entry fields, the information inputdevice comprising: a display screen to display said entry screen andsaid plurality of entry fields; a central processing unit configured togenerate, when said user selects one of said entry fields, attributeinformation, said attribute information includes a required attributerelating to how a linguistic element of the selected entry field isvisually presented on the display screen; computer memory to store apredetermined tactile pattern corresponding to the required attribute;the central processing unit configured to acquire said tactile patterncorresponding to the required attribute; a tactile pattern output unithaving a plurality of tactile pins to output said tactile patterncorresponding to the required attribute added to the selected entryfield to allow the user of the information input device to sense bytouch the required attribute in parallel with reproduction of theselected entry field; and linguistic information including saidplurality of linguistic elements displayed on the display screen;wherein as the attribute of each of a plurality of linguistic elementsincluded in said linguistic information, said attribute informationincludes a background color at a position of the display screen of saiddisplay device where a linguistic element of interest is displayed;wherein said computer memory is configured to store a tactile patterncorresponding to each of background colors at positions where linguisticelements are displayed; and wherein for each of said plurality oflinguistic elements, said tactile pattern output unit outputs a tactilepattern corresponding to the background color at a position of thedisplay screen where the linguistic element of interest is displayed assaid tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to thelinguistic element of interest; wherein the central processing unitconfigured to search for a most-frequent attribute which is an attributeadded to the largest number of linguistic elements among said pluralityof linguistic elements included in said linguistic information; andwherein in parallel with reading aloud each of a plurality of linguisticelements, said tactile pattern output unit is configured to output saidtactile pattern corresponding to an attribute added to the linguisticelement of interest when the attribute is not the most-frequentattribute and stops outputting the tactile pattern when the attributeadded to the linguistic element is said most-frequent attribute.
 2. Theinformation input device according to claim 1, wherein said tactilepattern output unit includes: the plurality of tactile pins configuredto be placed in proximity with said user; and a tactile pin drive unitconfigured to drive each of said plurality of tactile pins in any one ofa direction that the tactile pin is brought into contact with said userand a direction that the tactile pin is moved away from the user toallow said plurality of tactile pins to output said tactile pattern. 3.The information input device according to claim 1, further comprising:wherein the central processing unit is further configured to change areading speed of said voice output unit based on an instruction of saiduser; and in parallel with reading aloud consecutive linguistic elementsto which a same attribute is added, said tactile pattern output unit isconfigured to output said tactile pattern corresponding to the attributeadded to the consecutive linguistic elements at a regular speed for anumber of times, the number of times being inversely proportional tosaid reading speed, the regular speed being independent of said readingspeed.
 4. The information input device according to claim 1, whereinsaid attribute information includes an attribute which is added to eachof said plurality of linguistic elements and identifies that thelinguistic element of interest is a line's first character in listdisplay, the list display including a plurality of items each havingpart of said plurality of linguistic elements; and in parallel with thereading aloud each of said plurality of linguistic elements, saidtactile pattern output unit is configured to output said tactile patterncorresponding to the attribute which is added to the linguistic elementof interest and identify that the linguistic element is the line's firstcharacter.
 5. The information input device according to claim 1, whereinsaid central processing unit is configured to acquire said linguisticand attribute information generated by said entry field informationgeneration unit; said tactile pattern storage unit is configured tostore a tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute identifying thatinput in the entry field is required; said central processing unit isconfigured to acquire said tactile pattern corresponding to theattribute added to said one entry field selected by said user from saidtactile pattern storage unit; said voice output unit is configured toread aloud the name of the selected entry field included in saidlinguistic information; and in parallel with reading aloud the name ofthe selected entry field, said tactile pattern output unit is configuredto output said tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added tothe selected entry field to allow the user of the voice output device tosense by the sense of touch whether input in the entry field of interestis required.
 6. The information input device according to claim 1,further comprising: the display screen configured to display pieces offile identification information including a file name for each of aplurality of files stored in the storage device; the central processingunit configured to generate, when said user selects one of the pieces offile identification information, said linguistic information including aphrase indicating a name of a file corresponding to the selected pieceof file identification information and said attribute informationincluding a file attribute of the file corresponding to the selectedpiece of file identification information; wherein said centralprocessing unit is configured to acquire said linguistic and attributeinformation generated by said file information generation unit; thecomputer memory to store a tactile pattern corresponding to said fileattribute; said central processing unit is configured to acquire fromsaid tactile pattern storage unit said tactile pattern corresponding tosaid file attribute of the file corresponding to the selected piece offile identification information selected by said user; said centralprocessing unit is configured to read aloud the file name included insaid linguistic information; and in parallel with the reading aloud thename of the file, said tactile pattern output unit is configured tooutput said tactile pattern corresponding to said file attribute of thefile corresponding to the selected piece of file identificationinformation to allow the user of the voice output device to sense thefile attribute of the file corresponding to the selected piece of fileidentification information by the sense of touch.
 7. An informationinput device which displays an entry screen including a plurality ofentry fields and allows a user to input information in each of the entryfields, the information input device comprising: a display screen todisplay said entry screen and said plurality of entry fields; a centralprocessing unit configured to generate, when said user selects one ofsaid entry fields, attribute information, said attribute informationincludes a required attribute relating to how a linguistic element ofthe selected entry field is visually presented on the display screen;computer memory to store a predetermined tactile pattern correspondingto the required attribute; the central processing unit configured toacquire said tactile pattern corresponding to the required attribute; atactile pattern output unit having a plurality of tactile pins to outputsaid tactile pattern corresponding to the required attribute added tothe selected entry field to allow the user of the information inputdevice to sense by touch the required attribute in parallel withreproduction of the selected entry field; and wherein said attributeinformation includes a character size which is added to each of saidplurality of linguistic elements included in said linguistic informationand with which the linguistic element of interest is to be displayed, asthe attribute of the linguistic element of interest; wherein saidcomputer memory stores a tactile pattern corresponding to each ofcharacter sizes; and for each of said plurality of linguistic elements,as said tactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to thecharacter of interest, said central processing unit is configured toacquire a tactile pattern corresponding to the linguistic element fromsaid tactile pattern storage unit; wherein the central processing unitconfigured to search for a most-frequent attribute which is an attributeadded to the largest number of linguistic elements among said pluralityof linguistic elements included in said linguistic information; andwherein in parallel with reading aloud each of a plurality of linguisticelements, said tactile pattern output unit is configured to output saidtactile pattern corresponding to an attribute added to the linguisticelement of interest when the attribute is not the most-frequentattribute and stops outputting the tactile pattern when the attributeadded to the linguistic element is said most-frequent attribute.
 8. Aninformation input device which displays an entry screen including aplurality of entry fields and allows a user to input information in eachof the entry fields, the information input device comprising: a displayscreen to display said entry screen and said plurality of entry fields;a central processing unit configured to generate, when said user selectsone of said entry fields, attribute information, said attributeinformation includes a required attribute relating to how a linguisticelement of the selected entry field is visually presented on the displayscreen; computer memory to store a predetermined tactile patterncorresponding to the required attribute; the central processing unitconfigured to acquire said tactile pattern corresponding to the requiredattribute; a tactile pattern output unit having a plurality of tactilepins to output said tactile pattern corresponding to the requiredattribute added to the selected entry field to allow the user of theinformation input device to sense by touch the required attribute inparallel with reproduction of the selected entry field; and wherein saidattribute information includes at least one attribute of bold, italic,and underline display in the case of displaying each of said pluralityof linguistic elements, which is added to the linguistic element ofinterest; and in parallel with the reading aloud each of said pluralityof linguistic elements, said tactile pattern output unit is configuredto output said tactile pattern corresponding to at least one attributeof bold, italic, and underline display added to the linguistic elementof interest; wherein the central processing unit configured to searchfor a most-frequent attribute which is an attribute added to the largestnumber of linguistic elements among said plurality of linguisticelements included in said linguistic information; and wherein inparallel with reading aloud each of a plurality of linguistic elements,said tactile pattern output unit is configured to output said tactilepattern corresponding to an attribute added to the linguistic element ofinterest when the attribute is not the most-frequent attribute and stopsoutputting the tactile pattern when the attribute added to thelinguistic element is said most-frequent attribute.
 9. A computerprogram product embodied in non-transitory media comprising: computerreadable program codes coupled to the non-transitory media for causing acomputer to function as an information input device which displays anentry screen including a plurality of entry fields and allows a user toinput information in each of the entry fields, the computer readableprogram codes including: a first code segment configured to display saidentry screen which includes said plurality of entry fields; a secondcode segment configured to generate, when said user selects one of saidplurality of entry fields, attribute information which includes anattribute to identify whether input in the selected entry field isrequired; a third code segment configured to store a predeterminedtactile pattern corresponding to the attribute to identify whether inputin the entry field of interest is required; a fourth code segmentconfigured to acquire said tactile pattern corresponding to theattribute added to said one entry field selected by said user from saidthird code segment; and a fifth code segment configured to output saidtactile pattern corresponding to the attribute added to the selectedentry field to allow the user of the computer program product to senseby the sense of touch whether input in the selected entry field isrequired a sixth code segment configured to search for a most-frequentattribute which is an attribute added to the largest number oflinguistic elements among said plurality of linguistic elements includedin said linguistic information; and wherein said attribute informationincludes at least one attribute of bold, italic, and underline displayin the case of displaying each of said plurality of linguistic elements,which is added to the linguistic element of interest; and in parallelwith the reading aloud each of said plurality of linguistic elements,said fifth code segment is configured to output said tactile patterncorresponding to at least one attribute of bold, italic, and underlinedisplay added to the linguistic element of interest; wherein in parallelwith reading aloud each of a plurality of linguistic elements, saidfifth code segment is configured to output said tactile patterncorresponding to an attribute added to the linguistic element ofinterest when the attribute is not the most-frequent attribute and stopsoutputting the tactile pattern when the attribute added to thelinguistic element is said most-frequent attribute.